Another Federal Employee Impacted by Mysterious Cuban Sonic Incident

Last week, according to Federal Times, medical tests “confirmed that one additional U.S. Embassy worker has been affected by mysterious health incidents in Cuba, bringing the total number to 25.”

The incidents involve strange sensations of pressure and barely perceptible sound and “have been found to have a range of symptoms and diagnoses including mild traumatic brain injury.” In addition to the 25 federal employees with work histories in Cuba, one federal employee based at a consulate in China was also confirmed to be impacted.

The U.S. State Department has confirmed that the incidents are “specific attacks,” but the federal government has yet to confirm the precise cause, or to pin the blame on a specific culprit, with theories ranging from the Cuban, Chinese, or Russian governments to third-parties with an interest in upsetting the Cuban political system. However, the confirmation of the instance in China seemingly rules out the latter theory.

Last Thursday, “in a senior-level meeting with Cuban officials,” the State Department again expressed “the urgent need to identify the source of the attacks on U.S. diplomats and to ensure they cease.”

The Cuban Foreign Ministry issued its own statement in rebuttal, calling on the United States “to desist from the continued political manipulation of the alleged health cases.”

The United States has issued a series of health and travel advisories for both Cuba and China, warning of the latter that the worker there was confirmed to have “suffered a medical incident consistent with what other U.S. government personnel experienced in Havana, Cuba.”